John writes: “Some fantastic photos and great comments tell their own story of our time in The Lakes. My thanks to the people of Threlkeld and all you walkers who surpassed yourselves in this inspiring and amazing landscape. 3 gigs within 300 metres of each other and all packed. My perfect tour!! Keep rambling. JJ”

… onto the summit of Blencathra. Led by Colin, supported by Boff and Ross, ably assisted by Aggie

Photograph by David Heppingstall

What a fantastic day! So pleased that everyone made it to the summit of Blencathra. Another divided walk – and our group had a great view of the other team scrambling up the exhilarating ascent via Hall’s Fell Ridge. We were there to applaud them and I felt very proud of them!

The weather has been incredible – I am so relieved when I think of how wet and windy October in the Lakes could have been. Instead it has been almost unreal – so still and beautiful.

We had a great house concert last night… I had a text from Benji Kirkpatrick, who couldn’t be there, saying that in his absence someone else needed to take over the telling of dreadful jokes on stage. As it turned out, this role was embraced by Lindsey!

Big thanks to Graham and Vanya for sharing their house with us – it’s been a treat.

Now the mood is exuberant as both groups of walkers are together, heading downhill …. towards the pub! 

JJ

Here we are, the early morning brigade, about to walk up Clough Head and over to the Great Dodd. The Vale, which others will set off in later, in another 45 minutes, is just off to our right. Unbelievable day … if anyone walking with us is new to the Lakes, I hope they don’t think the weather is always like this. It’s incredible. Great session last night, lots of songs as well as lots of tunes, great to have other musicians with us, Nick Passmore and so on, Rowan sang, the women’s choir sang… But now we have to get up that hill – that’ll sort everyone out! This group is going up to 700 metres there, and then 850 metres later – so we’ll be just under 3,000 feet by the time we get onto Stybarrow Dodd and Great Dodd. Then we’re going to go down Sticks Pass and meet the other group which will have done a slightly easier route, so we all meet down at Legburthwaite, in the car park, near to the Lodge at Thirlmere. This is the first of the divided walks – looking forward to it and we’ll see who’s with us at the top! JJ 

Photos: see if you can guess which team is doing which walk!

Just moving off from the stone circle at Castlerigg. We’ve got more than 60 people here – we’ve been looking down at St John’s in the Vale, over the Dodds and High Rigg and Low Rigg, some of the iconic and beautifully-named hills, and Blencathra is way back behind me at the moment. I can’t believe the weather – it’s just amazingly good – very high cloud, beautiful blue sky, strong sunlight for this time of year, throwing sharp shadows on some of the rocky outcrops. Looking from here makes you realise how much more rugged the north lakes are compared to the south and I think that’s why I prefer them. We’ve got a lot of great walking to do but this is just a gentle start on the old coach road between High Rigg and Low Rigg and back down St John’s in the Vale to Threlkeld, and we’ll be in the Salutation Inn by 5 o’clock. Hope to see you there.” JJ 

In a week’s time, John and Colin will be leading two walks along St John’s in the Vale. Fingers crossed for weather as good as today.

Walkers will meet at the Threlkeld Coffee Shop at the Village Hall on Friday at 9am. We will split into two groups for high-level and low-level walks along St John’s in the Vale. Our local scouts have been out to The Lodge in the Vale where we were planning to meet for lunch. The Lodge feel they are not able to cope with the number of walkers that we expect to be with us. The two groups will therefore meet in the car park at Legburthwaite, head of St John’s in the Vale. Please bring a packed lunch for this walk. The car park has toilets and a lovely view down the valley (perhaps not to be enjoyed at exactly the same time). The Lodge is not far away if anyone does desire their coffee and cake.

For the three evening events, there is plenty of parking in Threlkeld. Please respect local residents when you park.  The Village Hall has a car park but please do not leave a car there while walking for the day as their coffee shop is open for visitors all day. Please click on the link for the Threlkeld Website to see further information on parking.

Meet you there.